Motorola DROID X review

Ah, yes 4.3-inches of sensual haptic, multitouch glass strapped to a 1 GHz processor, 8 megapixel camera, and so much more. The Motorola DROID X is the latest and greatest Android handset to be unleashed upon the U.S. market, and it will be making its debut on America’s largest network — Verizon Wireless — on July 15th. We’ve been using, abusing, and confusing our review unit for just over a week, so lets jump right into our review. Buckle up and hit the break.

First — we just need to get this out of the way — there may be a comparison or two to the iPhone 4 or EVO 4G. We aren’t trying to pit the three devices against each other, but they happen to be the most current, and perhaps hottest, handsets available in the U.S. market. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff!

Size/Build

This phone is solid, like really solid. Its form factor doesn’t ooze sex quite like the iPhone 4’s, but it brings its own unique design charms to the table. First, the weight. It is really good. The DROID X feels like a high-end, well-built piece of electronics that is made to last. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel as heavy as the original DROID does (no pun intended), the weight is distributed nicely throughout the phone; we put together an initial impressions video that has several size comparison at the end for those of you who would like them. We even fulfilled a commenter request to see how “pocketable” the device is. The moral of the story: both the construction and weight feel great to us.

There is no give or wiggle in the lock button or the volume up/down keys, and while there is a little in the dedicated camera button, that is by design. The camera button has a double-press action built into it; halfway down to focus, all the way down to capture. The four front keys move north and south a bit. The two left keys (Menu and Home) are attached, and wiggling one will move the other; the same goes for the next two dedicated keys (Back and Search). The front keys are raised higher than all the other exterior keys on the DROID X and are made from plastic — which could account for the wiggle we feel (see video). There is a tiny bit of give in the left-middle of the phones case. If you grab the phone by its “waist” there is a little bit of bend on the left hand side of the frame due to the battery bay (see video). Despite this, if you pick the phone up and physically shake it there is no rattling or movement of any kind.

The phone has an equator that runs around its horizontal axis which creates a very nice, tight line. The the top half of the phone (with the display) is black and the bottom half (with the camera) is slate gray. The back cover is made of metal and snaps in firmly, the battery has an easy to handle pull tab for removal (which is appreciated), and the micro-SD card slot is flush with the battery (meaning if you want to take out the SD card you have to remove the battery). Honestly, the wiggling keys and outer-frame bend didn’t really bother us, however we thought those of you with discerning eyes (and hands) would want to know about it. All-in-all, the construction, and QA on this device looks really, really tight.

Display

The display really is great. 4.3-inches of WVGA multitouch, haptic goodness with a 480 x 854 resolution. Who wouldn’t like that? Text is crisp and clear, images are bright and have depth on the screen; it is something you have to see for yourself to appreciate. The contrast ratio and pixel density not quite as good as the iPhone 4’s, but unless you have the two side-by-side (or switch from one to the other after extended use) we’re sure you won’t mind. Motorola also confirmed to us — via email — that The X uses the same Gorilla Glass as the original DROID.

Phone

These things are still phones right? It’s funny to see a manufacturer press release that contains phrases like “ultra high-speed Web browsing” and “intuitive social messaging” but never any mention of the devices ability to function as a phone. Even though it isn’t stated, the DROID X is a really, really solid phone. The reception on the phone is great; the bars and signal strength — in dB — matched that of a BlackBerry Bold 9650 we had lying around. The DROID Incredible doesn’t seem to get as strong of a cellular signal as some of our other Verizon Wireless devices, so we were pleased to see this was not the case with the DX.

As we’ve mentioned several times in earlier posts, the DROID X has a trio of microphones at its disposal that it uses to discern your voice from background noise and stray sounds. The call clarity emanating from the ear piece is superb; thanks in part to Verizon Wireless’ network and in part to Motorola’s engineering. As an iPhone user myself, the call quality on the DROID X makes me green with envy. The unit is equipped with a voice-dialing feature that works as expected, saying “call home” or “Call Boy Genius” yielded accurate results. Double-tapping the home key will activate voice-dialing or you can get to it from a soft-key in the Android dialer. The speakerphone is loud, although not the loudest we’ve ever heard. The E73 Mode and the iPhone 4 both seemed to be much louder when on a call or playing media.

Typing

If you dislike on-screen keyboards, you might actually like this one. Like the EVO 4G, the extra screen real estate yields a bigger on-screen keyboard, thus making it easier to accurately type. Coming from an iPhone we had no problem diving right in and typing with both speed and accuracy. If you lean towards/love a physical keyboard, we still recommend trying before you buy. The speech-to-text option is super convenient as always; it is one of those simple features that really sets Android apart from its competitors.

Camera/Video Camera

So, we’ve complied several video and still image comparisons between the DROID X and the iPhone 4. All things considered we were thrilled with the audio recording quality, satisfied with the 720p video quality, and a little disappointed with the still-camera.

Again, the DROID X has three microphones, and when you record video it utilizes all three. Audio is clear and crisp, perhaps a little high on the treble, but not muffled like we’ve come to expect from smartphones. The video quality was generally great in 720p mode. The DROID X shoots 720p video at 24 fps (30 fps for lower quality video) and the color accuracy is spot-on.

The camera we can’t quite fully endorse. The DROID X has an 8 megapixel, mechanical-shutter camera that, by looking at the stat sheet, seems quite impressive. Our gripe has to do with our inability to take clear shots on the first try. The DROID X defaults to shooting in 6 megapixel mode to save space on your SD-card, and while a quick adjustment of the settings will get you shooting up to the phones full potential, we can’t figure out why you would slap an 8 megapixel camera on the phone and not use it. Shots from distance and outdoors are completely acceptable and above average for a phone. Shots from close range and indoors tended to be a bit blurry and grainy. Now, we understand this isn’t an SLR or a point-and-shoot — this is your cell phone we’re talking about here — but we did expect a little more from the DROID X’s camera.

SMS/MMS

Android is very efficient at handling MMS and SMS messages and the DROID X is no different. Messages are displayed in a threaded conversations with chat bubbles alternating left and right. Speech-to-text is amazing. This is obviously an Android thing, not a DROID X thing, but we had to mention it again. Love it. Hitting the menu button from within a text will give you several options including “insert file.” You can attach: pictures, audio, video, a slide show, or name cards to MMS messages. You can access SMS/MMS messages from the “Text Messages” icon, the “Messaging” center, or the unified inbox.

Calendar/Contacts

There is only one calendar application on the DROID X and it combines the calendars of all your synchronized accounts (Exchange, Gmail, etc.). You can turn certain calendars on and off if you want them visible, and adding new events is quite easy. Not much else to say about the calendar application, so moving right along.

Contacts works like it does in any other Android phone, you see an alphabetized list, recent contacts, and favorites. The favorites list does have a “Most Frequently Contacted” section at the bottom of it that we found quite useful.

Browser

The browser really benefits from the extra screen real estate on the DROID X. The resizing of webpages isn’t quite as accurate as the iPhone but a pinch here and double-tap there usually gets things right where you want them. The browser feels really snappy and renders webpages as fast, if not faster, than any other smartphone currently available. We can’t wait to see what this puppy can do with Android 2.2 on it!

The big news with the browser is obviously that, at some point this summer, it will support Flash. We have to wait until “summer” like everyone else for Flash (as it wasn’t available on our demo units), but we’ll be sure to chime in with our thoughts as soon as it hits the streets.

Email/Accounts

The email and account implementation on the DROID X is very well done. The DROID X actually has an icon in the main applications window called “My Accounts” launch that app and you see a list of the accounts you currently have configured on the phone. Click “add” and you are brought to a screen that asks you if you would like to aadd a: Backup Assistant, Corporate Sync (Exchange), Email, Facebook, Google, MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa, Skype Mobile, Twitter, Visual Voicemail, or Yahoo! Mail account to your DX. Once you have an account added you can hit the “Messaging” icon to access the Universal Inbox and view badged icons for each account.” The only thing not shown in the Universal Inbox are Gmail messages. Like all Android phone that are “with Google” they are in their own separate Gmail app.

Battery

The DROID X’s battery was not an issue for us. When we first got the device — and pawed at it for about 3 hours straight –the battery lasted for roughly 8 hours. With normal to moderate use we got at least a day out of the battery (unless we were tethering of course). The X has a Battery Manager that lets you to set custom battery profiles –allowing you to turn push services on/off at certain times — and see what applications are taxing your battery the most. There is also a Data Manager application that allows you to customize how often applications using background data should update. The Data Manager also allows you to force certain applications (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to update over Wi-Fi only. The battery is 1570 mAh, and seems to get the job done. Verizon said there will be a 1930 mAh extended-life battery offered soon, it will add 1mm of thickness to the phone via a custom back cover.

A few nice features…

Since each Android device gets customized just a little bit (depending on carrier and manufacturer) we thought we would point out some of the niceties Motorola and Verizon included in the DROID X. Mercifully, Motorola has added a security lock timeout feature. You can set a passcode (or pass-pattern) and have the unit require that code after the phone has been locked for a specific interval of time. This is a welcome feature.

Wireless DLNA support is also built into the phone and will allow you to share your DROID X’s media with other DLNA devices.

Summary

We enjoyed our time with the Motorola DROID X, and feel it is a well-balanced, powerful addition to Verizon Wireless’ Android lineup. We would have liked the device to have a better camera, a front facing camera, and perhaps some sort of optical tracking device for easier text correction, but all things considered…we really like this device. If you are or plan on being a Verizon Wireless customer, and love Android — or maybe are just Android curious — you definitely have to take a good, long look at the DROID X.

The gingerbread and verizon lte news makes me want to wait. If I knew for sure that verizon won’t have any 4g phones q4, I’d definitely get the X.

wild homes

Verizon stated during CTIA that they weren’t looking at any LTE handsets before mid-2011, which is definitely past fiscal Q4 2010 (March). Unless this has changed, you should be safe for the X.

Adam

Nicest tablet i’ve seen yet!

toAdam

Iphonefanboylover…

manoz

there r other sites 4 u where apple fanboyism is loved…

you_monster

My problem is my wife would never approve this purchase b/c she would want one too.

http://www.bgr.com NewsWorthy

Yeah, I am getting one only because I am getting my wife one too. I know just how you feel.
~ NewsWorthy ~

jonathan

A little too big for my taste, but overall nice phone/tablet. Still not enough to make me switch from the iphone. This is a good one for Android though.

Android is ok

Yes technology does evolve and it’s much quicker these days but it doesn’t have to be this fast. I’m all for the improvement of Android but looking at the big picture, releasing too many devices in short periods of time hurt the current devices that are out and their potential sales. The devices will never sell as much as they could if they just slow it down some. For instance, the Nexus one was going to be released compatible to VZW as confirmed by Google’s own website. Well the incredible came out so that nixed the Nexus 1 because they were very similar devices. Had the incredible not come out so quickly maybe the N1 could have come on VZW and had better sales that the so called “superphone” actually had. Now with the incredible on back order, people see this Droid X and are cancelling incredible orders to get this one. Same thing will happen when something else comes out in Sept that’s is better than the X and then in Dec when something is better than that one.

You could say all you want about Apple only releasing one device per year, their devices will hold their value and remain relevant the entire life cycle while android devices have relatively short life cycles because they are killing each other. They are doing the same exact thing RIM was doing, flooding the market with devices that are very similar with small differences and calling them something different where some devices get updates and others wait patiently. They could easily break millions of devices sold in 1 or 2 weeks if everyone didn’t know another one was coming soon. Everyone knows the iPhone comes once a year so people line up fanatically to get it and they know they’ll have the best product from Apple for at least a least. With Android no need to get hype up for a launch because in 2 months something will be better. I just want to see longer life cycles. General consumers can’t keep up with this stuff and that’s who you need to sell to in order to become king. Period.

Ernie

Wow! That was awesome! Way to summarize the state of Android.

You don’t know where to look or where to go. You sign with Sprint because you want the EVO and then comes Verizon with the Droid X and then comes T-Mobile, because they need to compete and then AT&T because they definitely need Android phones and so and so forth.

God knows I would be changing every other month and canceling contracts left and right and by the end of the year I will be in debt, maybe a few thousand dollars.

That’s the inherent issue with Android. Any manufacturer can make a phone. Now you have Samsung, Acer’s coming soon, HTC, Motorola, Sony and the list grows every day. All of them need to outdo the other.

The only gatekeepers are the carriers but do we want the carriers being the gatekeepers AGAIN.

Argh! There’s the problem. Or A problem.

Frank

Wow a very well thought out comment.

It will be interesting to see what a one or two year Droid X will fetch on Ebay.

Ernie

It would be consider a relic so probably a shitload of money!

Ernie

My point was that with so many android phones coming out from so many vendors, it will be OLD news by this time next year and perhaps a collectors item.

JD

That is why when you pick a phone, you pick one that can keep you satisfied for the length of the contract.

Honestly, it is a phone first. The rest is just icing on the cake. Phone technology, and technology in general, is always moving forward.

So what if you just bought an Incredible and now the Droid X is just around the corner. Are you really missing out that badly? Enough to spend another $500-$700 badly?

I just think its funny how you are blaming the platform for having too many great phones out that trump each other. It has been happening since the beginning of time in the computer industry. Its called innovation.

HTC released the Incredible. Motorola released the Droid X. They are competitors. Next month (the month after the Droid X release anyway) HTC will probably have another phone that puts the Droid X to shame. I will have the Droid X by then and I won’t care. I like what the Droid X has to offer, so I will get it.

Just like any decision in life, choosing your phone requires some forethought. You can’t just blame companies that you didn’t have that forethought or for your lack of patience.

El Piogan

Hey “Android is ok”, I wanted to say something but you said all what I wanted to say. Great comment.

FriarNurgle

Well said. Resale on Apple products are excellent. Androids aren’t bad either, but I’m concerned about the market fragmentation, saturation, and quick development causing Android device prices to drop prematurely.

Rob

I agree to point. BUT… let’s say Company A’s yearly cycle introduces their latest model. Oh let’s say version 4, just to throw a number out there. But said model has a glaringly obvious flaw in its design. But Company A’s CEO denies any issue with there version 4 model. You’re now stuck with the flawed new model or have to backtrack to last year’s model 3. Doesn’t sound like an ideal situation to me.

Choice is always good. Because if one model is screwed up, there’s always another that can take its place.

Rob

I agree to point. BUT… let’s say Company A’s yearly cycle introduces their latest model. Oh let’s say version 4, just to throw a number out there. But said model has a glaringly obvious flaw in its design. But Company A’s CEO denies any issue with there version 4 model. You’re now stuck with the flawed new model or have to backtrack to last year’s model 3. Doesn’t sound like an ideal situation to me.

Choice is always good. Because if one model is screwed up, there’s always another that can take its place.

Rob

I agree to point. BUT… let’s say Company A’s yearly cycle introduces their latest model. Oh let’s say version 4, just to throw a number out there. But said model has a glaringly obvious flaw in its design. But Company A’s CEO denies any issue with there version 4 model. You’re now stuck with the flawed new model or have to backtrack to last year’s model 3. Doesn’t sound like an ideal situation to me.

Choice is always good. Because if one model is screwed up, there’s always another that can take its place.

Rob

Sorry, I have no idea why that posted 3 times.

wild homes

But it’s good for consumers– the phones are just improving all the time. The device manufacturers obviously don’t mind it so much, either– Android managed to bring Motorola back from the dead, and HTC is doing better than it ever has before.

Yes, the phones are being replaced sooner than we’re used to seeing, but this is a good thing– it spurs innovation. It’s odd to think that four months beyond its release the iPhone4 will be nearly obsolete, but this is the beauty of Android.

So long as your manufacturer gives you a decent lifeline as far as support goes (and basically that’s a non-issue provided you didn’t buy a Samsung or an Xperia) you’re taken care of. Allow Android to continue to evolve, please.

Ernie

NO it’s NOT better for consumers. It confuses consumers. Every mature industry moves to a simpler yearly, e.g. cars, cycle. In this case, consumers delay buying because they don’t know, first which phone to buy and second how to time their purchase so it maximizes their investment.

CMC

I would have by now bought a Nexus One and might still just because it’s unlocked/unhacked by a carrier. I’ve been waiting b/c I want to see what Dell/Acer/Samsung bring to the table.

Swagger

VZW Droid users are the real sheep.

Antonio

I respectfully disagree, even though you made very valid points. Android is open with many different handset makers, and android is on all networks. It really is an army of options, great, good, and just ok. Sprint needs a “Hero” device, as does Verizon as does T-mobile. So does Motorola, HTC, Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.. Android is the answer for them, and they keep out doing each other, and of course android itself is maturing as we go along.When you speak of “they” I want to ask who is “they”? There are alot of “theys”, and Moto android dev could care less about Samsung android dev. No flame, you made great points, I find this year to be the most interesting year in wireless in a long time.

Stickyicky

good luck holding the phone in one hand and typing! That aint’ gonna happen.

Neo

@BGR
u said the browser is the fastes “if not faster, than any other smartphone currently available.”

Prove it, iPhone 4 vs Droid meh x

Merkinsforlife

bgr tested both phones tool…so yeah i think they know

Stang68

I second that. Let’s see the iPhone get crushed by the Droid X!

wild homes

In terms of responsiveness, I don’t doubt that it’s faster than mobile Safari. The Droid X (as well as the original Droid and its proper successor) have a better dedicated GPU than the HTC Snapdragon-packing phones, and achieve better performance. And in the tests I’ve seen, the Evo more than holds its own against the iPhone4 browser– so I’d have to imagine the Droid X would perform even more capably.

Now in terms of raw data speed, that’s obviously a useless test.

Hmmm…?

Despite the minimal difference in screen resolution, everything else this device does, it does better than the iPhone…it’s maddening that comparisons are being made at all. The key to having a GREAT mobile device is more than it’s software and hardware capabilities, it’s in the network it relies on to connect. Whether to the carriers voice network or their data network, it should be more important for users to consider this, rather than getting a product because Steve Jobs said so. Don’t get me wrong, I can see the value in the iPhone, however, if given the opportunity to choose, why would you take a comparable device on a wildly inferior network when you can get a better all around device on a VASTLY superior network??? Silly Apple fanboys and their toy play phone….

Darwin

I see you know nothing at all about the iPhone. Maybe when you are old enough to buy your own phone you will understand.

DroidCLH

The only way age is going to make a difference in the decision to buy an iPhone over this is if you we;re to become old and senile to the point we’re you need a robotic arm to hand AT&T and Apple your entire pension fund and your freakin soul

R

How can they claim this isn’t motoblur – it clearly is, there just arent widgets for “happenings”

With the exception of the browser pages, not one screenshot looks anything like stock android.

Andrew Munchbach

Not sure if this is going to make you feel better but the Motorola Widgets are included with this build. It definitely isn’t stock Android, but Moto is insisting the phone hasn’t been Blur’ed.

Hmmm…?

It has aspects of Motoblur, but it’s not being promoted as such. Think of it as “Motoblur Lite”.

KMAN

Nice writeup man!

Its refreshing to read an article and not know the authors biases. If VZW gets the iPhone its going to be REALLY hard to pick which which phone to rock. In my mind its call quality vs camera quality between the two…

Darwin

If Verizon gets the iPhone Android sales will take a steep nose dive. Unless Google gets its UI act together which doesn’t seem very likely. Android does not sell very well in Europebecause multiple carriers have the iPhone in most countries.

JAG

The most amazin phone at the moment, more than Galaxy S, EVO or iPhone 4.

This phone has it all.

Darwin

The current Motorola Droid was $20 or so within a few months of release. Expect the same.

http://randomguyweird.com Randomguyweird

Is it worth an upgrade from the original DROID?

vzw rocks

Rename the Iphone the AppPhone and call it a day. Really thats all its good for is downloading and storing aps. You can do so much more with a straight up Android device. I would never ever ever go back to an Iphone.

Oh, I am not jealous. I am ecstatic to see you go. :-) Don’t let the door hit you in the ass… LOL. We want people that love technology and don’t have to go to the other side of the fence like a little kid and make fun of the other kids toys. iPhone does some things much better than Android and vice-versa.

miko

Not only storing apps, but using them, many excellent, on a fast device with a great screen. Then there’s messaging, e-mail, web, music, hd video, 2-way photography, and actually a good phone that also supports video chat.

digsoreos

I’ve used an iPhone and a BlackBerry Storm 9530, but haven’t used an Android. I have VZW and I’m considering a move to Android. I hear a lot of talk about how iPhones are just for apps, but would someone mind explaining how Android is either not just for apps or how it’s different–other than the “openness” of the OS? I’m open-minded (i.e., not blindly following one system or another) so I look forward to your responses.

Darwin

Saying it doesn’t make it true little boy.

macsmister

I cannot decide if I want to get the Droid X to replace my HTC Incredible… I want to upgrade because of the Droid X’s better GPU but at the same time their is no good commercial games for Android like there is on the iPhone (the likes of Capcom, EA or Activision have not tasted the Android waters yet). I wonder if AAA titles will see the light of day during the Droid X lifetime (within the next year).

You got a point there. One other cool feature on the X is the physical keys! At least I could play some classic games through emulators using a wiimote, something you can’t currently do on the Incredible due to the Sense UI.

CC

WOW we must be retarded in this country How can a company like Verizon keep on making local phones I mean unable to perform outside the US and still sell this crap? I guess we are just provincial people that don’t travel. No wonder Apple kills all these wanna be iphones.

Darwin

Verizon doesn’t make phones.

Some Verizon phones do both GSM and CDMA.

I actually find T-Mobile to be the best company for international travel with AT&T a close second.

ptb127

What about facebook intergration? On the droid incredible those who have facebook accounts, in the regular contact lists, would be their most recent fbook status. Does this do it to?

Darwin

It has a Facebook widget for the kids.

ptb127

What I meant was does it do that in a regular contact list like the Incredible did? That’s what I meant.

Austin

Yes it does

http://www.phish.com rambo

why by x? 4g phones are launching black firday for verizon. only select markets will have 4g but still, no need for the droid x unless it does 4g

http://www.bgr.com NewsWorthy

I considered this but came to the conclusion that by the time the 4G kinks are worked out, I will be eligible for a 1 year upgrade. Droid X it is…

~ NewsWorthy ~

Percy

BGR U ROCK! But if end up taking better stills than you did for the review, I’m gonna give you a ear full! Lmao.

http://www.bgr.com NewsWorthy

Nice review BG. I would like some more information on the email integration though. I appreciate the information about its integration but would like to know more about its efficiency in the delivery of email. I’m Coming from a Blackberry Storm and email is a high priority for me. What should my expectation be? Any informatino you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

~ NewsWorthy ~

AK Access

An email overview (efficiency and layout) would be appreciated also BG. I too have a BlackBerry Storm2.

Eric

I had some doubts about whether this phone would be good for me as I’m a big fan of stock Android (I know I’m in the minority here) in terms of looks, functionality and update scheduling but I’m starting to think this might be more for me than I thought. I’ll have to go to the store and try it out, but it is a mighty tempting phone to just splurge on sight unseen. Of course, due to some recent events I’m rethinking that strategy. (Not a dig, just stating facts)

c.lo

16 or 24 bit color???? 65k or 16 million??? what is it??

blargh

I hate wiggly keys!!!!!

km

i’m a serious apple guy but the way android devices keep hitting the shelves, i feel outdated already :( is there a timeline for a gsm version release ?

patrick

@android is ok.
so you don’t think Apple will be releasing a 4g version of the iPhone on Verizon in January? As far as fragmentation be it Android OS or phone specs and tech, if you don’t want to keep up, people are free to buy the best they can afford and know that their phone will be relevant for the next 12 mos, if not the latest and greatest (my motorola droid is scheduled to be the 2nd phone to recieve froyo so it is a little more than relevant). It almost sounds to me as if you are jealous that Android has and keeps offering so many different handsets where you are regulated to just one. Upgrade envy? If someone wants simple they buy cheap, if they want super powerful and upgradeable they buy expensive. If one release is fine for you per year (albeit with shody equipment) then be gone and go load 12 apps to each folder, thats funny.

patrick

@ digsoreos
WiFi tethering. HDMI out. You can make calls. Widgets. And google integration (much more than just apps, you have to spend time with an Android device to really see how seamless the integration is). And a much better notification system than apple.